
14.
When the time of rewards came, what procedure did the house-
holder follow? How much did each receive? What complaint was made?
Verses 8-12.
15.
What reply did the householder make? Verses 1346.
NoTE.—"The first laborers of the parable represent those who, be-
cause of their services, claim preference above others. They take up
their work in a self-gratulatory spirit, and do not bring into it self-
denial and sacrifice. They may have professed to serve God all their
lives; they may have been foremost in enduring hardship, privation,
and trial, and they therefore think themselves entitled to a large reward.
They think more of the reward than of the privilege of being servants
of Christ. In their view their labors and sacrifices entitle them to receive
honor above others, and because this claim is not recognized, they are
offended."—Id., pp. 399, 400.
16.
In what way will the saints of God have made a covenant with
the Lord? Ps. 50:5.
NomE.—"0, how different are the standards by which God and men
measure character. God sees many temptations resisted of which the
world, and even near friends, never know,—temptations in the home, in
the heart. He sees the soul's humility in view of its own weakness; the
sincere repentance over even a thought that is evil. He sees the whole-
hearted devotion to His service. He has noted the hours of hard battle
with self,—battle that won the victory. All this God and angels know.
A book of remembrance is written before Him for them that fear the
Lord and that think upon His name."—Id., pp. 403, 404.
17.
What will be the reward of all who have willingly and loyally
consecrated their all to Christ's service? Rom. 2:6, 7; Rev. 22:12.
NoTE.—"There are many who have given themselves to Christ, yet
who see no opportunity of doing a large work or making great sacrifices
in His service. These may find comfort in the thought that it is not
necessarily the martyr's self-surrender which is most acceptable to God;
it may not be the missionary who has daily faced danger and death,
that stands highest in heaven's records. The Christian who is such in
his private life, in the daily surrender of self, in sincerity of purpose
and purity of thought, in meekness under provocation, in faith and
piety, in fidelity in that which is least, the one who in the home life
represents the character of Christ,—such a one may in the sight of God
be more precious than even the world-renowned missionary or martyr."
—Id., p. 403.
18.
Of what was the apostle Paul assured as he neared the close of
his ministry? To how many is the same assurance given? 2 Tim. 4:8.
NOTE.—"The
one who stands nearest to Christ will be he who on
earth has drank most deeply of the spirit of His self-sacrificing love,—
love that ‘vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, . . . seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil,'—love that moves the
disciple, as it moved our Lord, to give all, to live and labor and sacrifice,
even unto death, for the saving of humanity."—"The Desire of Ages,"
p. 549.
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